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LCHF And cholesterol

HEG

HEG

Active Member
Messages
36
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I have reduced my carbs and my HB1c dropped from 86. To a stable 47 and was praised for a brilliant results. however my cholesterol was up to 6.2. So now I'm looking at food thinking ok low carb but high cholesterol so Which aliment shall I deal with today?

Does anyone else have this problem and f do how do you combat it.

Thanks
 
You might find the following video helpful, especially if you have a full breakdown of your various cholesterol readings rather than just the total:

 
Thanks Catinahat for the link. The DN offered me statins but I refused as the result was roughly the same as a health check I received in 2012 and then it was not flagged as a problem! I think the goalposts seem to be moved by the day for what is norm within the NHS. I asked for a breakdown of the results and apart from the comment cholesterol had gone up the HDL was deemed normal. I just wondered if anyone had the same response once Hb under control.
 
How long have you been LCHF? Can make a difference although personally I wouldn't worry about it. What you eat has less impact than is generally thought.
 
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Same thing happened to me and quite a few others here. When I lowered carbs and ate more fat my cholesterol was raised at my last two blood tests. Now I do not have much saturated fat as in red meat, sausages, bacon and dairy but I do eat avocados nearly every day and have good oils, fish and some nuts. I will not know until my next diabetes blood test in March if that has worked in lowering my cholesterol
 
You really need that breakdown. I suggest you ask for a print out. You will need it for future comparisons. If you ring the receptionist and ask, you should be able to pop down and collect it. Also, if you are in England, from last April all surgeries were asked to put all test results on line. Your receptionist will know if your surgery complied with this and how to register for the service. Without the figures you have no idea how the total cholesterol figure was arrived at - it may well be your good cholesterol increased.
 
Before I started LCHF my cholesterol was 8.4 . It seems to be a family thing and my body dislikes statins.
6 months on LCHF and it had reduced to 5.8 .. My fatty liver also returned to normal.
Subsequent readings have been up a little each time. It's now 6.8 .. BUT .. when I push the DN and ask, she does say it's the good cholesterol that has risen.
As the advice above, see if you can get a breakdown of your readings.. I always have to ask, it's as if they are protecting the crown jewels !
 
Pinkorchid I am now thinking the same about red meat, sausages, bacon and dairy. I have decided to up vegetables, limit my favourite breakfast of grilled sausages, bacon and eggs (this can be everyday) and my other love cheese. I already regularly eat nuts, avocados, humous and recently lidl protein rolls, Mediterranean veg and salad and see if it has an impact at the June blood test.

It's annoying that I can't have a diabetic monitoring appointment without wanting to stuff you with medication and not advice on how to make a difference naturally. I know the liver creates and deals cholesterol but the little food creates I think I should try to limit.

Got a breakdown HDL level 1.4. Cholesterol/HDL ratio 4.4, non HDL cholesterol level 4.8. But I don't know which level is good, bad or ugly!
 
HEG said:
Pinkorchid I am now thinking the same about red meat, sausages, bacon and dairy. I have decided to up vegetables, limit my favourite breakfast of grilled sausages, bacon and eggs (this can be everyday) and my other love cheese. I already regularly eat nuts, avocados, humous and recently lidl protein rolls, Mediterranean veg and salad and see if it has an impact at the June blood test.

It's annoying that I can't have a diabetic monitoring appointment without wanting to stuff you with medication and not advice on how to make a difference naturally. I know the liver creates and deals cholesterol but the little food creates I think I should try to limit.

Got a breakdown HDL level 1.4. Cholesterol/HDL ratio 4.4, non HDL cholesterol level 4.8. But I don't know which level is good, bad or ugly!
Click to expand...

The normal ranges are:
Triglycerides 0 to 1,7
HDL (good) 1.2 to 3.5
LDL 0 to 3
Cholesterol/HDL ratio under 4
Non HDL under 3.4

The LDL is regarded as the bad cholesterol, but if the triglycerides are very low this is not the case. It is the trigs that are the baddies.

It is generally recognised that carbs cause rises in triglycerides and reduction of HDL. Cutting carbs should improve matters very much. 3 portions of oily fish a week will also help matters.
 
Best thing for cholesterol - do not measure it and do not worry about it! The liver tends to do what it wants and a low carb diet will be helping it. My cholesterol used to be about 5.5 and this was never flagged as a problem until I was diagnosed pre-diabetic. Suddenly they wanted me on statins. I refused having read about the awful side effects and total lack of efficacy and how important cholesterol is for the body and brain. After LCHF for a year cholesterol had gone up to 6.0 BUT the increase was due to a significant increase in the so-called good cholesterol. My triglycerides had halved which is fantastic and LDL had also gone down.
Besides that, dietary cholesterol has very little effect on total cholesterol. I was and still am eating loads of saturated fats and lipid profile is much better. Sadly never got to see the doc to explain how I'd improved. Just got a note from the receptionist stating 'no action'. A pity the docs aren't interested in educating themselves as to just how their patients are healing themselves or they could be helping diabetic and obese patients instead of hindering them.
 
HEG said:
Pinkorchid I am now thinking the same about red meat, sausages, bacon and dairy. I have decided to up vegetables, limit my favourite breakfast of grilled sausages, bacon and eggs (this can be everyday) and my other love cheese. I already regularly eat nuts, avocados, humous and recently lidl protein rolls, Mediterranean veg and salad and see if it has an impact at the June blood test.

It's annoying that I can't have a diabetic monitoring appointment without wanting to stuff you with medication and not advice on how to make a difference naturally. I know the liver creates and deals cholesterol but the little food creates I think I should try to limit.

Got a breakdown HDL level 1.4. Cholesterol/HDL ratio 4.4, non HDL cholesterol level 4.8. But I don't know which level is good, bad or ugly!
Click to expand...


That food completely screws up my cholesterol as well.
It's complete rubbish (for me) that diet doesn't influence cholesterol.
Maybe the body makes it if you need it, but my body certainly doesn't shift it if I pile it on with my food, and if I don't stuff it into my face, it doesn't seem to want to play catch up!
Go figure.
 
Hello,
I have been doing lchf on and off for a few years.
Basicly Atkins induction for about a year now.
7 months ago my LDL cholesterol was 140 and now it's 350.
This is devastating to me because I love this way of life and have lost almost 100 lbs.
My Dr just put me on the highest mg of lipitor 80 mg.
And now I don't what to eat.
I don't want to be on the medication because I'm a serious high risk of diabetes.
My sister just died from it.
But I'm also a super high risk of stroke and heart attack. My father died of heart attack when he was only 44.
I'm 49 Caucasian female.
I need a plan of action and I don't know where to start.
I'm thinking I want to go on a cholesterol lowering diet plan and still eat lchf.
I'm not sure if it's even possible.
Any suggestions would be helpful.
I'm not sure if I'm even in the right place or forum.
It's confusing to me.
 
englelisa45 said:
Hello,
I have been doing lchf on and off for a few years.
Basicly Atkins induction for about a year now.
7 months ago my LDL cholesterol was 140 and now it's 350.
This is devastating to me because I love this way of life and have lost almost 100 lbs.
My Dr just put me on the highest mg of lipitor 80 mg.
And now I don't what to eat.
I don't want to be on the medication because I'm a serious high risk of diabetes.
My sister just died from it.
But I'm also a super high risk of stroke and heart attack. My father died of heart attack when he was only 44.
I'm 49 Caucasian female.
I need a plan of action and I don't know where to start.
I'm thinking I want to go on a cholesterol lowering diet plan and still eat lchf.
I'm not sure if it's even possible.
Any suggestions would be helpful.
I'm not sure if I'm even in the right place or forum.
It's confusing to me.
Click to expand...

It is a common thing that weight loss, especially a lot of weight loss (like 100 pounds in 7 months) will raise cholesterol. Your doc should know this, and wait several months after the weight loss has stabilised before assuming that you need treatment for high cholesterol. He should also be willing to discuss your cholesterol ratios with you, rather than just quoting the total cholesterol figure.

The body stores its fat in fat cells, then when you are losing weight, that fat is released into the bloodstream and circulated (as measured by the cholesterol test) to where it is needed. This raises your cholesterol. If it wasn't circulating in your blood, it would be sitting in your fat cells, and you wouldn't be losing weight. :)

Since it is worrying you so much, and I DO understand that with your family history it must be a huge concern, maybe have a think about the kind of fats you are eating. Several people have found that reducing cheese and the fat in red meat, while increasing the amount of foods like oily fish, avocado and such.

Changes like this seem to have absolutely no effect on me whatsoever, but some people report that it helps. Also triglycerides have been shown to rise when carbs and alcohol are involved, so if you are eating those, then they may not be helping (I know you mentioned Atkins induction, and that used to be 20g carbs a day, but am not sure if that has changed).

Hope that helps.
 
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Being on a high dose of Lipitor will increase your risk of diabetes and worsen your HbA1c. Read the insert in with your medication, it's in there as a warning.

I entirely agree with all @Brunneria has said. My cholesterol (total) started high - I was always a statin refusor, it went up as I lost weight, it went down after, it is just a little lower than yours. (333). Like the previous poster I no longer have it checked and it does not worry me in the slightest.

Read the link above by Zoe Harcombe and watch the Ken Sikaris video.

The smart money now believes that it is the inflammation lowering properties in Statins that actually produce the (small) improvement in health outcomes - and there is no benefit in terms of all cause mortality and even in incidence of cardio-vascular events in primary prevention. You would benefit your heart far more by having a half hour brisk walk every day and sticking with the diet, in my opinion. The LCHF diet is naturally inflammation lowering.
 
Just picking up the thread from a few weeks ago..

Just had my HbA1c with some good results and I've updated my signature with the details. When I stopped running in circles whooping with joy, I took a closer look at the Trigs figure. Now suddenly I'm not so impressed. They might even be high risk.
LCHF seems to have worked for everything else but ought I to scale back the cream-in-the-coffee and frying in butter?
@Brunneria , I'm hoping you'll weigh in here with words of comfort...
 
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